1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to weft-stretch woven fabrics comprising a spun staple yarn and a polyester bicomponent continuous filament comprising poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(trimethylene terephthalate) in the weft of the fabric.
2. Description of Background Art
Polyester bicomponent filaments are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,379, and napped stretch fabrics of spun staple yarns are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,433. However, the fabrics disclosed in these references do not have sufficient recovery after stretching unless the bicomponent level is high, and fabrics having improved recovery are still desired.
The invention provides a woven fabric comprising warp fibers and a weft wherein:
a) the weft is selected from the group consisting of pick-and-pick and co-insertion constructions;
b) the weft comprises a spun staple yarn and a polyester bicomponent filament wherein said polyester bicomponent filament comprises poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(trimethylene terephthalate); and
c) the polyester bicomponent filament has an after heat-set crimp contraction value of from about 10% to about 80%.
The spun staple yarn can be cotton. The fabric can have a weft elongation of from about 12% to about 35%. The weft of the fabric of the invention can have a pick-and-pick construction or can have a co-insertion construction. In a preferred embodiment, the polyester bicomponent filament has an after heat-set crimp contraction value of at least about 35%. The fabric can be a twill, for example a twill fabric having a normalized unload power of at least about 2.2 N-m/g. The fabric can comprise spun staple yarns as warp fibers.
The fabric of the invention can have a warp elongation of from about 15% to about 35% and can comprise from about 5 wt % to about 25 wt % bicomponent filament, based upon the total weight of the fabric.
The invention further provides a process for making a weft-stretch fabric. The method of the invention includes the steps of:
a) providing a bicomponent filament comprising poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(trimethylene terephthalate), said bicomponent filament having an after heat-set crimp contraction value of at least about 10%;
b) providing a spun staple yarn;
c) providing warp fibers; and
d) weaving the bicomponent filament and the spun staple yarn with the warp fibers by a method selected from the group consisting of co-insertion and pick-and-pick to form the fabric.
In a preferred embodiment, the spun staple yarn of step (b) is cotton. The weaving method of step (d) can be pick-and-pick. In another embodiment of the method, the bicomponent filament has an after heat-set crimp contraction value of from about 35% to about 80%. The weaving method can be co-insertion. In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises providing the bicomponent filament in an amount such the fabric of step (d) comprises from about 5 wt % to about 25 wt % bicomponent filament, based on total weight of fabric.